Handle structure for bed springs and the like

ABSTRACT

A handle for bed springs of the inner spring mattress type. The handle structure includes a straplike handle member and handle connector elements adapted to be extended through openings adjacent the ends of the member and through spaced apart grommets in the mattress cover, and a connecting member engageable with springs of the mattress and to which the connector elements may be connected to secure the handle to the springs. The connecting member is designed to enable the handle to be used with bed springs having springs of different sizes or which are spaced apart at different distances.

United States Patent Primary Examiner- Bobby R. Gay Assistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-Charles E. Lightfoot ABSTRACT: A handle for bed springs of the inner spring mattress type. The handle structure includes a straplike handle member and handle connector elements adapted to be extended through openings adjacent the ends of the member and through spaced apart grommets in the mattress cover, and a connecting member engageable with springs of the mattress and to which the connector elements may be connected to secure the handle to the springs. The connecting member is designed to enable the handle to be used with bed springs having springs of different sizes or which are spaced apart at different distances.

PATENTEU JUL 6l97l 3590.405

Edward 0, Kerr J //v VENTOR ZM/ZW ATTORNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the manufacture of bed springs and inner spring mattresses, it is customary to provide the same with a cover of fabric, which completely encloses the spring assembly, and to provide the cover with handles for the lifting and turning of the assembly. The cover may also include pads for the springs, and the handles are customarily attached to the longitudinally extending sidewall portions of the fabric cover-between the upper and lower walls thereof, by means of grommets, or the like.

The handles in this type of structure are usually more or less straplike, and due to their attachment only to the fabric of the cover, the fabric often becomes stretched and deformed or torn, and the handles become detached.

The spring assembly may include vertically spaced, generally rectangular upper and lower frames to which spaced apart coil springs are attached to yieldingly hold the frames in spaced relation, and attempts have been made heretofore to connect the handles-to this frame to relieve the strain on the fabric cover.

Expedients of this character, however, have not proven satisfactory because of the difficulty of forming a secure connection between the upper and lower frame parts and the bandles. Moreover, the connection of the handles to the springs at locations between the upper and lower frame parts has not been generally acceptable because of the difference in the spacing of the springs in bed spring structures of difi'erent sizes and using various sizes of springs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the handle structure of the present invention includes an elongated handle member of straplike construction having longitudinally spaced openings by which the handle is attached to the fabric of the assembly by grommets which provide openings through which elongated connector elements may be inserted for connection to intermediate turns of spaced apart coils of the springs to connect the handles thereto.

The connector elements are formed with head portions at their outer ends adapted to seat on the outer ends of the grommets and at their inner ends with slotted portions in which an elongated rodlike connecting member engageable with intermediate turns of the coil springs may be inserted to connect the inner ends of the'elementsto the springs. The connector elements are also formed with laterally extending lugs positioned for engagement at their free ends with the internal surfaces of the grommets to guide and brace the connector elements in the grommets, and with bracelike projections spaced inwardly beyond the lugs, which are engageable with the inner ends of the grommets when the connector elements are inserted therethrough to hold the elements against longitudinal movement outwardly of the grommets. The connector elements may be formed of suitable material, such as metal or plastics, and the bracelike projections are of flexible character to allow the same to be readily contracted to pass through the grommets and to expand into engagement with the inner ends of the grommets for coaction with the outer end heads of the elements to securely connect the elements to the grommets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view, on a reduced scale, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and showing the same applied to an inner spring mattress or bed spring;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, showing details of structure and arrangement of the parts of the handle;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. I, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in cross section and on a greatly enlarged scale, of the handle structure as illustrated in FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PARTICULAR EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The handle structure of the invention is shown in connection with its use on a bed spring or mattress of the inner spring type, of usual construction, having coil springs such as those shown at 10, which are arranged in spaced apart relation between upper and lower pads 12 and 14, which pads are of a usual type having inner and outer fabric portions 16 and 18, respectively, and forming a cover for the mattress.

The pad of the mattress may be of continuous type, extending about the entire, generally rectangular, structure of the mattress frame, or the spring structure may include upper and lower rectangular frame parts, not shown, which are yieldingly held in spaced apart parallel relation by the springs 10, as commonly provided in bed springs and mattresses of the box or inner spring type.

The pad or cover of the mattress may have the usual longitudinally spaced grommets 20 located in the longitudinal side walls of the mattress for the attachment thereto of external handles which are intendedfor use in lifting a mattress.

The handle structure of the invention includes a straplike handle member 22 formed with perforated, generally disclike, enlarged end portions 24, each of which end portions may have an annular recess 26 in its outer face, within which the grommet 20 is extended at its outer end to connect the handle to the cover portion of the mattress, as best illustrated in FIG.

The grommets 20 may extend at their inner ends through washers 28, positioned in engagement with the inner face of the mattress cover, to provide an extended area of contact by which the grommets are secured in place.

For the purpose of connecting the end portions 24 of the handle 22 to the inner spring structure of the mattress, elongated connector elements 30 are provided which 3 may be formed of any suitable material, such as metal, plastic, or the like, and which are adapted to be extended through the grommets 20 and connected at their inner ends to the coil springs 10. Each of the connector elements 30, in the present illustration, has a shank or stem portion 32 of rectangular or other convenient shape in cross section, which is formed at its inner end with an enlarged portion 34 having a longitudinal slot 36 therein and an opening 38 through one side wall of the slot 36, to permit a connecting member 50, in the form of a wire or rod, to be inserted through the opening 38 into the slot.

At its outer end, the connector element 30 has a head 40 formed with an outer, disclike portion 42, of larger diameter than the internal diameter of the grommet 20 and which seats against the outer end of the grommet, and an inner annular portion 44 which fits within the grommet inwardly of the outer end thereof, as best illustrated in FIG. 4. Inwardly of the outer end head 40, the connector element 30 is formed with laterally extending projections 46 which extend radially outwardly for engagement at their outer ends with the inner surface of the grommet, to serve as guiding means. The invention also includes the rod or bar 50 which may be extended in engagement with corresponding turns of the coils 10, and which may be inserted in the element 30 of the handle 22 into the slots 36 of the element to connect the elements to the springs. The bar or rodlike connecting member 50 is preferably formed with laterally bent end portions 52 to prevent the same from slipping longitudinally out of the slots 36 of the connector elements when positioned therein.

In assembling the handle structure, constructed as described above, the connector elements 30 may be readily inserted through the grommets 20, the projections 48 being sufficiently flexible to enable the same to be pushed through the grommet and to expand outwardly for engagement with the inner end of the grommet to brace the elements thereon. When the connector elements have been thus inserted, the projections 46 will be in engagement with the internal surface of the grommet to further brace the elements thereon, while the head portion 40 will be in engagement with the outer end of the grommets to hold the outer ends of the braces 48 in contact with the inner ends of the grommets. It will be apparent that by this arrangement the connector elements will be securely attached to and supported by the grommets.

With the connector elements thus positioned, the rodlike connecting member 50 may be readily inserted through a number of the coil springs 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and inserted through the openings 38 of the connector elements into the slots 36 thereof, whereby the connector elements will be securely connected to the coil springs.

it will be noted that the barlike connecting member 50 may be inserted at any suitable location mediate the ends of the coil springs so that the connector elements 30 are positioned to most effectively connect the handle 22 to the spring, so that the strain applied to the mattress by lifting the same by the handles 22 will be transmitted largely to the inner springs of the mattress, thus preventing tearing of the mattress cover or pulling out of the grommets.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention, what I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A handle assembly for a bed spring structure of the type having spaced apart inner coil springs and a fabric cover enclosing the springs and having side walls provided with longitudinally spaced grommets, said handle comprising an elongated straplike member formed with holes adjacent its ends through which said grommets are extended through the sidewalls, an elongated connector element adapted to be extended through each grommet and formed at its outer end with a head portion adapted to be seated against the outer end of the grommet, and means on the element spaced inwardly from said head portion in position for coaction with said head portion to connect the element to the grommet for movement therewith, each of said elements being formed with a longitudinally elongated slot adjacent its inner end, and,

an elongated rodlike member extending through intermediate turns of adjacent ones of said springs and said slots and formed with end portions shaped for engagement with said elements to prevent longitudinal movement of said rodlike member out of said slots.

2. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said connector elements is formed with a longitudinally elongated slot adjacent its inner end and a side opening leading into said slot through which said elements may be inserted into said slot.

'3. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said connector elements is formed with flexible means ex tending laterally therefrom in inwardly spaced relation to said head portion shaped to be yieldingly contracted to allow said flexible means to pass through the grommet and to expand to position the flexible means for engagement with the inner end of the grommet at peripherally spaced locations thereon upon insertion of the element through the grommet to clampingly engage the grommet between said means and said head portion.

4. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of said elements includes means positioned for engagement with the internal surface of the grommet to hold the element centralized in the grommet when the element is inserted through the grommet. 

1. A handle assembly for a bed spring structure of the type having spaced apart inner coil springs and a fabric cover enclosing the springs and having side walls provided with longitudinally spaced grommets, said handle comprising an elongated straplike member formed with holes adjacent its ends through which said grommets are extended through the sidewalls, an elongated connector element adapted to be extended through each grommet and formed at its outer end with a head portion adapted to be seated against the outer end of the grommet, and means on the element spaced inwardly from said head portion in position for coaction with said head portion to connect the element to the grommet for movement therewith, each of said elements being formed with a longitudinally elongated slot adjacent its inner end, and, an elongated rodlike member extending through intermediate turns of adjacent ones of said springs and said slots and formed with end portions shaped for engagement with said elements to prevent longitudinal movement of said rodlike member out of said slots.
 2. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said connector elements is formed with a longitudinally elongated slot adjacent its inner end and a side opening leading into said slot through which said elements may be inserted into said slot.
 3. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said connector elements is formed With flexible means extending laterally therefrom in inwardly spaced relation to said head portion shaped to be yieldingly contracted to allow said flexible means to pass through the grommet and to expand to position the flexible means for engagement with the inner end of the grommet at peripherally spaced locations thereon upon insertion of the element through the grommet to clampingly engage the grommet between said means and said head portion.
 4. The handle assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of said elements includes means positioned for engagement with the internal surface of the grommet to hold the element centralized in the grommet when the element is inserted through the grommet. 